Archive for Sanctification

Spiritual Transformation is impossible without the help of the Holy Spirit!

Genesis 1:27 says the Spirit was involved in the creation process.

John 16:8 says the Spirit convicts us of sin, righteousness and judgement.

John 3:8 says the Spirit breathes life into us.

John 14:17 says the Spirit resides in us.

2 Timothy 3:16 says the Spirit inspired the Scriptures for us.

2 Corinthians 3:18; 5:18 says the Spirit transforms us.

The Holy Spirit is our helper and our sanctifier but we have a role to play in the transformation process. In Acts 2:37-39 the Apostle Peter called the crowd on the Day of Pentecost to repent, be baptized and they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The core element of spiritual transformation is your heart! Your heart is the epicenter of your life that directs and motivates everything. The problem is your heart is deceitful above all else (Jer 17:9). Our hearts are totally depraved because apart from Christ we are dead in our sin (Romans 3:8-10) and the answer isn’t more education but reconciliation with God which leads to a reformation of the heart.

Reformation of the heart begins with acknowledging that we are inherently sinful and that we need to repent and have genuine remorse over our sinfulness. I think one of the reasons why we don’t see more genuine transformation in our lives at times is because we aren’t genuinely repentant and remorseful of our sin.

Faith in Jesus Christ, being the Son of God and that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9-10) is essential. Faith in God worships God as God and builds a close relationship with God through the Scriptures and prayer. Faith comes by hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ. Daily communion with God positions us to be sanctified by the word of truth (Jn 17) and the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Repentance and faith leads us to being apart of the Community of faith = Church! To be a Christian and not be a part of a local church is to disobey God and remove yourself from the very environment that God chooses to use to shape and mold your faith and new creation nature. Some of us run away from church the moment there’s an issue but we are missing the point. It’s as we embrace the wrestle and tensions of the things that irritate us and challenge us about people within the church that God uses, in part, to shape and mold us.

Build your future on biblical truth that leads to spiritual transformation. Spiritually transformed people love God with all their heart, soul and strength.

3 Times in the Scriptures, the word “Transformed” is used (Rom 12:2; 2 Cor 3:18; Phil 3:21). The word ‘Transformed’ in the Greek translated through to English is the word, ‘Metamorphosis’ and it means a change of form or a change of character. In the study of Biology, it means “a process of change in structure that results in a change of behaviour.” The same word is used to describe the process of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly in a cocoon.

God intends each of us to experience a spiritual transformation as radical as the physical transformation of a caterpillar to a butterfly…and then some. When a caterpillar enters the cocoon, everything about the animal changes, except the heart. When we are saved, we enter into the process of sanctification = being conformed to the image of Christ. This transforming work includes and centers on the heart. Hence why Proverbs 4:23 exhorts us to, “Guard your heart, for out if it flows the wellspring of life”.

I think the reality is we will all be transformed to one degree or another. The question is, in whose image will we be transformed into? We all become who we are according to the image we consistently behold. Gen 1:26-27 tells us we are made in the image of God but because of Genesis 3 and our rebellion against God, we are inherently selfish and sinful beings. Hence why we need to be saved and experience the transforming work of Christ on the cross and the help of the Holy Spirit. What image are we pre-occupied with – Self or Christ?

Colossians 3:10 “Put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”

I think one of the reasons why spiritual transformation breaks down is because we lack vision of what a Gospel-centered life looks like. Without a vision of life in obedience to the teachings of Jesus we settle for a vision of our selves in a fallen world. The culture around us makes it easy for us to be focused on our selves and not on Christ.

Every single one of us, apart from Christ, is addicted to ourselves and we need to be set free from our self-sufficiency. Spiritual transformation is not a ‘life enhancement’ project that helps you become a better you. Sanctification is the process of developing the life of Christ inside of you that can only be sustained by the work of the Spirit inside of you as well.